Welcome to our Montgomery meeting planning guide – a city guide for meeting planning in Montgomery, Alabama. Located in central southeast Alabama, the city of Montgomery is rich in history, attractions and accessibility. Montgomery sits along the southern bank of the Alabama River, just 175 miles from Atlanta, 95 miles from Birmingham and 85 miles from Columbus. Thanks in part to its position as state capital, meeting and dining venues in Montgomery are busy and plentiful.
Modern Montgomery is also home to Hyundai's first American manufacturing plant – a $1.1-billion facility – as well as home to a strong military presence and a number of colleges and universities, including Alabama State University, Faulkner University, Huntingdon College and the Thomas Goode Jones School of Law; and branch campuses for Troy University and Auburn University.
Getting to Montgomery is a breeze, as the city is located just six miles northeast of the Montgomery Regional Airport. Serving 13 central Alabama counties, the Montgomery Regional Airport serves more than 400,000 annual travelers, offering nonstop service to such destinations as Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas-Fort Worth and Memphis. The airport offers direct access to the city's public bus system, Montgomery Area Transit System (MATS), which runs along 16 fixed routes within city limits. MATS also offers a downtown trolley service, which runs at 20-minute intervals and operates from the city's downtown historic Union Station.
Montgomery has seen a recent surge in meeting amenities and group-friendly attractions. Downtown revitalization projects include the Phase I completion of the new Riverwalk, which features a sprawling amphitheater and the arena home of the AA Montgomery Biscuits.
Located in downtown historic center, the new Renaissance Montgomery Hotel and Spa at the Convention Center features more than 103,000 square feet of meeting space. The upscale hotel and convention center together feature 29 meeting rooms and a maximum of 16 breakout meeting rooms, as well as a 75,520-square-foot exhibit hall, 13,920-square-foot ballroom and 1,800-seat Performing Arts Theatre. The 342-room hotel features such amenities as a 9,000-square-foot European spa, signature pool and on-site dining and entertainment. This state-of-the-art property, which debuted in 2008, is located directly across the street from the new Alley entertainment district, home to a number of shops, restaurants and entertainment venues.
Beyond the new Renaissance, Montgomery is home to a number of attractions, restaurants and cultural sites that can also accommodate group events. One of the city's most popular attractions, the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, houses a beautiful collection of 19th- and 20th-century American paintings and sculptures, Old Master prints, regional art and decorative arts. The museum is set on beautiful lakeside property and welcomes private events in its expansive rotunda and auditorium. For a step back in time – just three blocks east of the Renaissance Montgomery – the six-block Old Alabama Town outdoor history museum is home to more than 40 restored structures that transport visitors to 19th- and 20th-century Alabama life. Visitors may visit the town's tavern, doctor's office, schoolhouse, antebellum mansion and log cabin, while groups may gather in such spaces as an 1885 chapel, 1874 Grange Hall, courtyard, grape arbor and three-acre park.
